Ronnie Cummins was a prominent figure in the global organic regenerative food and farming movement, who dedicated his life to fighting for justice, peace, and health. He was the co-founder and international director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Regeneration International, and Vía Orgánica. He was also an author, a speaker, and a mentor to many. However, his life was cut short by a rare and aggressive form of cancer that he was diagnosed with only a few months before his death. How did he get this cancer? What were his achievements and contributions? And what legacy did he leave behind? This article will try to answer these questions and provide some details about Ronnie Cummins’s life and death.
The Origins of a Passion
Ronnie Cummins was born in 1946 in the Bronx, New York. He grew up in an area known as Cancer Alley, where many people suffered from diseases caused by pollution and toxins. He developed an interest in music, literature, and social justice at an early age, influenced by his father, who was a bookseller and a novelist.
He started his activism in high school, where he participated in the civil rights movement and the anti-war protests. He later studied history and political science at the University of Minnesota, where he continued his involvement in various causes. He also traveled extensively to Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, where he witnessed the effects of poverty, oppression, and environmental degradation.
He became interested in organic food and farming after reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a book that exposed the dangers of pesticides and chemical agriculture. He realized that the industrial food system was not only harming the health of people and animals, but also the climate and the planet. He decided to dedicate his life to promoting organic regenerative food and farming as a solution to many of the world’s problems.
The Accomplishments of a Leader
Ronnie Cummins co-founded the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) in 1998, along with other activists who wanted to protect consumers’ rights and promote organic standards. The OCA is a non-profit organization that campaigns for health, justice, sustainability, peace, and democracy. It has over two million members and supporters in the U.S. and around the world.
The OCA has been involved in many campaigns and initiatives over the years, such as:
Exposing the dangers of genetically engineered food, synthetic food technologies, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and other additives.
Advocating for labeling, testing, regulation, and banning of harmful substances and practices.
Supporting organic farmers, local food systems, fair trade, animal welfare, biodiversity, soil health, carbon sequestration, and climate action.
Educating consumers about the benefits of organic food and lifestyle choices.
Mobilizing grassroots action through boycotts, protests, petitions, lawsuits, lobbying, media outreach, and online platforms.
Ronnie Cummins also co-founded Regeneration International in 2015, along with other leaders from different countries and sectors. Regeneration International is a global network that promotes regenerative agriculture as a way to reverse global warming, restore ecosystems, improve human health, and create social justice. It has over 400 partner organizations in 70 countries.
Regeneration International has been working on various projects and programs to advance its vision and mission. Some examples are:
The Billion Agave Project , which aims to plant one billion agave plants in arid and semi-arid regions of Mexico and beyond. Agave is a drought-tolerant plant that can store large amounts of water and carbon in its leaves and roots. It can also provide food, fuel, fiber, medicine
